Best Rifle/Caliber for North American Hunting?

[bryank30]

Good old .308 Winchester. 150 grain partition style bullets and hot handloads will take anything out .

 

[Caddisflied]

jimniowa has the right idea.
With that .338 Mag, you could hunt anything in North America without leaving your home state.

 

[Kachok]

338 would be great in Alaska, but everywhere else it would be way too much gun. Same with the 300 magnums. Nobody would want to put 200 rounds of 338 downrange varmint hunting. If you can handle that in a sporter weight rifle I would love to shake your hand if you can still lift it LOL. If you want one rifle for hunting everything in North America the 338 is a very poor choice for 99.9% of us. 30-06/270WSM/7mag for those of us who are recoil tolerent, and 6.5x55/260rem/7mm-08 for those of us who are a little recoil shy. 308s and 270win fall right between the two classes.

 

[outlook ranch]

I just don't think you can beat a .243, or a .270 for an all around shooter. My wife busts 350# mule deer with her .243, while I just lean on the .270 for 99% of my shooting needs. If elk is in your future, you may lean towards the 30-06, but a .270 is an acceptable round for elk. Anything bigger, go bigger. IMHO, you just can't do it all with one gun, depending on your needs, things will change.

 

[Art Eatman]

'Round & 'round & 'round...

I have no doubt this subject will reappear at some future time...